A rising dealership group bought two shops within the fourth quarter, whereas a brand new operator acquired his first dealership and one other purchased her second, each in single-store transactions within the first quarter.
This is a have a look at the offers involving home and import model dealerships in Tennessee, Ohio and Missouri. One of many transactions concerned a gaggle ranked on Automotive News‘ top 150 dealership groups list.
ZT Motors provides two dealerships
ZT Motors, a unit of ZT Company, expanded its auto portfolio to a brand new state within the fourth quarter with the acquisition of two dealerships in Tennessee.
ZT Motors on Dec. 15 purchased Grindstaff Ford and Grindstaff Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram in Elizabethton from Steve Grindstaff.
The dealerships have been renamed Pleased Valley Ford and Pleased Valley Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram.
“We consider there’s a chance to enhance dealership operations below our administration group,” ZT Company CEO Taseer Badar stated in a press release.
ZT Company, a personal fairness and wealth administration agency, in 2015 purchased its first dealerships in Fort Walton Seaside, Fla. In 2020, ZT Company informed Automotive Information that it wanted to expand and buy up to 20 Southeast U.S. dealerships by 2023.
The agency added a Chevrolet dealership in Marietta, Ga., in 2019 and acquired three Houston-area dealerships from Prime Automotive Group in 2020. In February 2021, ZT Motors purchased a Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram-Fiat dealership in Union Metropolis, Ga.
ZT Motors, of Houston, ranks No. 144 on Automotive Information‘ checklist of the highest 150 dealership teams based mostly within the U.S., retailing 6,268 new automobiles in 2021.
Shepherd buys first dealership
Jacob Shepherd purchased his first dealership final month when he bought Joe Johnson Chevrolet in Troy, Ohio, from vendor Joe Johnson.
Shepherd and enterprise accomplice Jerry Frye on March 10 purchased the dealership, which was renamed Chevrolet of Troy. Troy is north of Dayton, Ohio.
“I began within the automotive enterprise in Cincinnati, Ohio, once I was 19 promoting Chevrolets,” Shepherd, the shop’s vendor principal, wrote in an e-mail to Automotive Information. “I spent a few years in gross sales and an equal period of time managing. I’ve no household within the enterprise, however by means of onerous work, consistency and being blessed, I’m lucky sufficient to be the proud proprietor of my first dealership.”
Tim Wild of Tim Lamb Group, a buy-sell agency in Columbus, Ohio, represented the client within the transaction.
Morris buys second dealership
Stephanie Morris bought her second dealership final month when she purchased a Nissan outlet in Missouri.
Morris on March 10 purchased Woody-Williams Nissan in Sedalia from the Woody household, in keeping with Ben Hicks III, with buy-sell agency Hicks Administration & Consulting Group Inc. in Arlington, Texas. The agency represented the vendor within the sale.
The dealership was renamed Stephanie Morris Nissan. Sedalia is southeast of Kansas Metropolis.
Morris, the shop’s vendor principal and namesake of Stephanie Morris Auto Group, stated in an e-mail to Automotive Information that she wished to purchase the Nissan dealership due to its popularity and that of the neighborhood.
She stated she additionally was attracted by the dealership’s staff, who’ve a mean tenure of greater than 15 years.
Morris bought her first dealership, James Hodge Chevrolet in Okmulgee, Okla., in Could 2021. That dealership, south of Tulsa, was renamed Stephanie Morris Chevrolet.
And Morris stated she plans to proceed including rooftops.
“I intend to aggressively enhance my dealership portfolio, with choose producers, so long as I’ve the best operator for the out there level,” she stated.